New Evidence from Dor for the First Appearance of the Phoenicians Along the Northern Coast of Israel
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New Evidence from Dor for the First Appearance of the Phoenicians along the Northern Coast of Israel E. Stern Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, No. 279. (Aug., 1990), pp. 27-34. Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0003-097X%28199008%290%3A279%3C27%3ANEFDFT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-P Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research is currently published by The American Schools of Oriental Research. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/about/terms.html. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. 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For more information regarding JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. http://www.jstor.org Tue Oct 30 07:03:20 2007 New Evidence from Dor for the First Appearance of the Phoenicians Along the Northern Coast of Israel Institute of Archaeology The Hebrew University Jerusalem, Israel Recent excavations at Tel Dor, Israel (1987-1988). showed that the city of the Tjeker (a tribe of Sea Peoples), a large, well-fortified town (Stratum XII), had been destroyed violently ca. mid-11th century B.C. That destruction left a huge layer of ashes and debris. The first Israelite town was constructed, however, only at the end of that century or the beginning of the next. Two interim occupation strata (Strata XI-X and IX) yielded rare Cypriot White Painted I pottery vases and early Phoenician Bichrome vessels, all well dated to the second half of the 11th century B.C. The city of the Sea Peoples seems to have been destroyed and resettled later by the Phoenicians in their move from Tyre and Sidon toward the south. Later they were blocked by the Israelites. The final border between the two peoples was settled during Solomon S time, when the Israelites agreed to return Cabul to the Tyrians. nly small amounts of Phoenician remains been uncovered at all those sites, it probably would have been uncovered in the excavations not be an exaggeration to say that the remains 0of the four principal Phoenician cities, unearthed at Dor were the best preserved and the Tyre, Sidon, Arvad, and Byblos (Muhly 1985). most numerous, and that their sequence was the Our knowledge of the early history of the Phoeni- most complete.' cians, and of their material culture in general in A great deal of new and significant material was this area, at the end of the second millennium and found during those excavations, including two throughout most of the first millennium B.c., is main Iron Age I strata (1150-1000 B.c.) that minimal. It is based so far on the results of represent the period of transition from the Ca- a small-scale excavation at Tyre (Bikai 1978a; naanite Age to the conquest of the city by David. 1978b), a few excavations at small sites such as At Dor that period is divided into three strata. Tell Sukas (Riis 1970; Ploug 1973; Riis 1979; In the earliest, Stratum XII, the city was ruled by Lund 1986) and Sarepta (Pritchard 1975; 1988; the Sea Peoples of the Tjeker tribe; the two later Koehl 1985; Anderson 1988; Khalifeh 1988), and strata (XI-X and IX) date from the destruction of a number of cemeteries (Saidah 1966; Chapman the city of the Tjekers to its conquest by David. 1972). On the basis of the remains, Stratum XI1 should In recent years some southern Phoenician sites be dated to approximately 1150-1050 B.C. The of great importance have been excavated in Israel. other two lasted only about 50 years, approxi- Those sites include Achzib (Prausnitz 1982), 'Akko mately 1050-1000 B.C. After nine seasons of exca- (Dothan 1976; 1985), Tell Keisan (Briend and vations, however, it is evident that more light can Humbert 1980; Humbert 1982), Cabul (Gal 1984), still be thrown on the history of the earliest phase Tell Abu Hawam (Hamilton 1933; 1935; Balensi by the historical sources than by the excavations. 1980; 1985), Shikmona (Elgavish 1978: 1101-9), Rameses 111, who repulsed the invading Sea Tel Mevorakh (Stern 1978), and Tel Michal (Her- Peoples from Egyptian territory in about 1180 zog 1978; 1980). Although important finds have B.c., mentions the "annihilation" of three tribes of 28 E. STERN BASOR 279 Sea Peoples: the Danuna, the Tjeker, and the cians. Those towns were linked by commercial ties Philistines (Pritchard 1969: 262). A nearly con- and they controlled the coasts of Israel and Phoe- temporaneous Ugaritic text also refers to the nicia with no fear of Egyptian intervention. Tjeker as sea marauders who lived on their ships The Egyptian documents and the others men- (Dietrich 1978). tioned thus indicate that the Philistines had set- Most of the information on those tribes, how- tled in the southern part of the country. Indeed, ever, comes from two slightly later Egyptian the Philistine domination and occupation of their sources. The first source, the "Onomasticon of five large cities is also often mentioned in the Amenope," dates from the end of the 12th or Bible and is, moreover, confirmed by archaeo- beginning of the 1lth century B.C.That document logical finds. Their northern border was at Tell contains a list of names: "Ashkelon, Ashdod, Qasile, where a prosperous Philistine city contain- Gaza, Asher. ,Sherden, Tjeker, and Phi1istia"- ing houses and temples has been excavated (Do- that is, the three coastal cities of the Philistines than 1982; Mazar 1985a: 124-27). The settlement are mentioned. In the view of several scholars, it of the Tjeker in the northern Sharon and of the may also include the Israelite tribe of Asher, Sherden farther north in the 'Akko Plain has which ruled over an enclave adjoining its territory similarly been confirmed by excavations. At Tel in the CAkko Plain, and three tribes of Sea Peo- Zeror near Hadera, the excavator attributed finds ples. It can thus be assumed that the Tjeker and associated with the Sea Peoples to the Tjeker Sherden had also seized a number of areas on the (Kiyoshi 1970). Excavations at 'Akko and neigh- coast of Israel (Gardiner 1947: 24). boring Tell Keisan have yielded Mycenaean IIIC The second and much more detailed source is pottery, which is generally associated with the Sea the Wen-Amon document (Pritchard 1969: 25-29; Peoples (Dothan 1976; 1985: 12-14; Briend and Goedicke 1975; Hlessondra 1985). That document Humbert 1980: 229-30). The excavators at the is a papyrus from el-Hibeh in Egypt, now in the latter two sites maintain that both settlements were Pushkin Museum. It dates to the 21st Dynasty conquered by the Sherden. Aharoni and others (I lth century B.c.), and has great importance as have even linked Tell Abu Hawam, a port city in the only document containing a direct reference to the southern 'Akko plain near the mouth of the the Tjeker's area of settlement at Dor. It also is an Kishon, with the Sea Peoples in this period (see unparalleled source for the history of Israel in also Harif 1974). general in the 1lth century B.c., an era considered During the last (1988) season of excavations at a "dark age" from the standpoint of written Dor, we reached the stratum of the Tjeker only in documents. Area Bl, which was marked by a destruction layer The writer, Wen-Amon, an official in the Temple and a conflagration so fierce that it had turned the of Amon at Karnak in Egypt, was sent to the city mud bricks red and crumbled the limestone of the of Byblos in Phoenica, which had trade relations houses, leaving a heavy residue of ashes and with Egypt, to buy cedar wood for the construc- charcoal (Stern, Berg, and Sharon 1989; Gilboa tion of the sacred barge. From this story, which 1989). The depth of the stratum in that area so was apparently based on an actual event, it is far is about 2 m and the floor has not yet been evident that Dor was inhabited by Tjeker who reached. The destruction layer was sealed by operated a large fleet of ships out of its harbor. floors on which were found vessels dating to the Aside from the ruler of Dor, three other rulers are second half of the 11th century B.C.(see below). mentioned whose names are connected with the Another section was dug in Area F on the western Sea Peoples. One, who had about 50 ships and a edge of the mound, adjacent to the seashore. trade alliance with Sidon, may have been the ruler There, too, we found the same massive burnt of Ashkelon-a principal Philistine city-and the layer; flames had charred the bricks and lime- other two may have been the rulers of Ashdod stone.